Victoria’s triple zero emergency department falls short of all benchmarks

The agency blamed the shortfall on the transfer of a $46.3 million communications contract to the Department of Justice and Community Safety, reduced government grant funding, and increases in employee expenses and professional services costs.

But despite the busiest year on record, response times for those dialing 000 have improved. Triple Zero Victoria dealt with 2.9 million calls for help, equivalent to approximately one call for help every 11 seconds.

Minister Parks intervenes in Victoria

Parks Victoria has a new chief executive and will be subject to a comprehensive review after Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos said it was not meeting community expectations.

Dimopoulos said that the authority responsible for the management of more than 4 million hectares of land and marine parks should be improved to meet society’s expectations.

Parks Victoria CEO Matthew Jackson left “by mutual agreement” and Graeme “Gus” Dear was appointed interim CEO.

There has been public outcry over the agency’s decision to close parts of Mount Arapiles in Western Victoria, a popular destination for rock climbers due to cultural heritage protection. Many in the climbing community said Parks Victoria did not consult with climbers before implementing the bans.

Climbing Victoria spokesman Mike Rockell said his group hoped the changes would lead to better and more balanced interaction with recreational users of the parks.

The decision to close parts of Mount Arapiles was made to preserve Indigenous heritage, including rock art and ancient quarries. Many climbers said they respect their Indigenous heritage, but closing the route goes too far and unnecessarily excludes them from some areas.

“We hope that in the near future the secretary will order a complete reboot of the management plan for Mount Arapiles State Park, a world-famous climbing destination,” Rockell said. he said.

New handover dates have been announced for the Metro Tunnel

The government has officially announced its deal with the builders of the $15 billion Metro Tunnel, including delays that could push the opening of the rail line into the second half of next year.

An amendment to the contract with the Cross Yarra Partnerships consortium tabled in parliament has set a milestone for provisional acceptance of the tunnel and its five new stations for 30 April 2025. This milestone was 12 months after the contract was last renegotiated in 2021. .

Final acceptance has been postponed from March 2025 to December 31, 2025. The government says the dates are designed to give builders incentives to deliver the project as quickly and safely as possible.

The original contract set a September 2023 deadline for provisional acceptance and a September 2024 target for final handover.

Loading

Supply chain and workforce disruptions resulting from COVID-19 delayed the project and increased its budget from $10.9 billion to more than $15 billion; this includes $13.48 billion funded by taxpayers.

Age clarified With the revised project timeline and “additional payments” details released in August, the Allan government offered Cross Yarra Partnerships up to $888 million if it met these milestones.

The contract amendment submitted on Thursday confirmed the bonus payments, which consist of a $143.5 million payment if the tunnel where the documents were leaked is opened to passengers by the new target date. Age show until June 29 next year – and $745 million in revised project costs.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson said the project was affected by unforeseen events and challenges during construction.

He said the government was clear that the project would be delivered in 2025, a year earlier than the original completion date of 2026.

Lease regulations postponed to 2025

The government has delayed a decision on new regulations that would require landlords to improve energy efficiency standards in rentals.

Consumer Affairs Minister Gabrielle Williams will introduce new minimum standards on December 1, on controlling loose wiring in shutters and installing electric heating in multi-tenant homes, just two of the proposed amendments submitted in June.

The announcement did not include the proposed changes, which would require landlords to install a permanent cooling system, ceiling insulation, energy-saving shower heads and hot water systems before signing a new lease, leading to confusion among industry figures as to whether the changes had been cancelled.

The government said it was delaying the decision on these more controversial changes as it signaled its intention to phase out gas appliances.

CFA still lacks volunteers

The Country Fire Authority has struggled to find sufficient operational volunteers for years. There were 28,906 operational volunteers in 2023-24, well below the target of 35,000 to 37,400.

This comes after the CFA recruitment campaign led to a 92 per cent increase in the number of expressions of interest compared to the same period the previous year. There were a further 23,043 volunteers in “support” roles within the target.

The number of volunteers has decreased significantly over the last decade. Although the total number of operational volunteers increased by 121 during the year, CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said 2,474 new members had joined and membership remained strong.

“The targets for volunteer numbers are aspirational targets set by the government of the day for CFA to encourage recruitment and attract new members now and in the future.”

Councils were changed at short notice

A parliamentary inquiry has recommended that the state government fully fund child vaccinations and put more money into child maternal health services and libraries to help councils.

Councils have limited ability to raise rates, but they are expected to provide a broad list of services and fear community backlash if lawns are not mowed or animal shelters are closed.

Of the 48 proposals, 14 advocated for more states to pick up the tab for services handed over to councils, such as school transition monitors and nursery programs.

in september Age announced that the state had begun charging municipalities $6,000 plus a $2 fee for each vaccine to use the state’s new vaccine database, despite assurances that it would remain free.

The inquiry recommended redoing a 50-50 split arrangement with councils to fund public libraries, school checkers and maternal and child health services, and reversing vaccination charges.